Please be advised that we will begin to refill Kinderhook Lake on Monday, April 1, 2024, in accordance with our DEC Drawdown Permit. Changes in the water level during the refill are weather dependent: more rain & snow melt = quicker refill; less rain and snowmelt = slower refill.
As of 2024, motor boat operators born after January 1, 1978 must possess a NYS Boating Safety Certificate. Boating safety courses are available online or you can attend the following in-person course.
BOATING SAFETY COURSE ALERT!
April 21, 2024
CASTLETON BOAT CLUB
8am – 5 pm
You MUST register on-line with the following link: https://www.register-ed.com/ev
As a follow-up to the article on Page 4 of the Winter 2024 KLC News (see post below) about establishing a shoreline buffer (aka rain garden) to filter nutrient runoff from entering our lake, here is an article from Solitude Lake Management that offers guidance into the type of shoreline plants that would do best in New York State. Enjoy and please create or upgrade your own shoreline buffer to help improve our water quality.
Beneficial Buffer Plants for New York State
While it’s sad to see the water level dropping to winter levels, just remember how much fun you had this past summer and that next summer will be here before you know it. Fall is a beautiful season and is also time for a few important reminders.
- Do NOT rake leaves into the lake bed, as rotting leaves create nutrients for weed and algae growth. Also, if you can, please remove fallen leaves from the lake bed.
- Do NOT throw brush or branches into the lake, as they end up floating to the dam, clogging the sluice gate debris rack and inhibiting control of the water level.
- If you have any shoreline projects, please complete them this Fall, as the water can rise quickly in the Spring depending on snowmelt and rain. Plus, our DEC Permit requires that we raise the lake back to summer levels as soon as the ice is off the lake in the Spring.
- Please secure any outdoor furniture and loose equipment. In the Spring, we often find deck chairs, carpets, water toys, dock parts, and boat and fishing gear stuck in the sluice gate debris rack at the dam.
Hopefully, you have been taking some great pictures around the lake this summer. Don’t forget to submit your best photos for the Calendar Contest with the required forms before October 1, 2023.
If your picture is selected as a winner, it will be featured as one of the months on the KLC’s 2024 Calendar and you will receive a free calendar. No purchase is necessary to enter or win!
The forms are available below and submissions or questions can be sent to klphotocontest@gmail.com. Good luck.
Photo Contest Rules
Photo Contest Entry Form
Photo Contest Model Release Form
Photo Contest Property Release Form
While our EcoHarvester is doing a great job attacking the dense areas of water chestnuts at the north end of the lake (per our DEC permit), it cannot grab the multitude of smaller patches and single plants growing along the shorelines all around the lake. Therefore, WE NEED YOUR HELP.
If you have a canoe, kayak, paddleboard, or small fishing boat that can access shallow areas, or whether you live on or off the lake, please cruise around the shorelines and grab as many water chestnut plants as possible. It’s quite easy to spot the leaves on the surface of the water (see photo).
Reach down as far as you can and try to pull the plants with the roots; no problem if the stem breaks. Bring gloves and trash bags to collect the plants. You can let the pulled plants dry on your lawn and either burn them, toss them in the trash, or use them as mulch in your garden. If you do this by mid-July, you will have likely removed the plants before the barbed seed nutlets form. Removal will help prevent propagation of new invasive water chestnuts. Each single plant removed can prevent hundreds of new water chestnut plants from growing in the future.
This link (https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/aiswatercfs.pdf ) may be of interest if you want to know more about invasive water chestnuts. Thank you for helping to battle aquatic invasive species in Kinderhook Lake.
The Weed Management Committee
Kinderhook Lake Corporation
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July 4th, Independence Day, is two weeks away. It is one of the best days to be on Kinderhook Lake. And, of course, the KLC will be hosting the usual array of fun events, all to take place on Tuesday, July 4th.
Kayak Rally
This event is open to all non-motorized vessels – kayaks, rowboats, canoes, paddleboards, rafts, etc. Between 8:30 and 11:30 AM collect tickets from the orange-flagged locations spread around the lake. Write your name and phone number on each ticket. Don’t forget a pen and a plastic bag to keep your tickets dry.
Bring your tickets to the tan and green metal building at 9 OLD West Shore Dr in Valatie by 12-noon to be entered into the prize drawing for KLC merchandise.
To make this event even more fun, we could always use a few more lakeshore owners to fly orange flags and hand out raffle tickets. If you would like to help out, please call Pete at 914-217-6770, and he will provide flags and raffle tickets.
Boat Parade
Decorate your boats and meet at One Tree Island at 1:30. Follow the lead boat as you parade around the lake, hootin’ and hollerin’ all the way. Prizes will be awarded to the Most Patriotic, Most Unique, and Funniest boats.
Ring of Fire
Light your flares and torches along the shoreline at 9:00 pm for a lovely bright ring around the lake. The more flares, the better.
Note: As always, flares and KLC merchandise will be available from 9:00 am to noon on Tuesday, July 4th at the tan and green metal building at 9 OLD West Shore Dr in Valatie. If you need them sooner, please call Pete at 914-217-6770.
Back by Popular Demand!
KLC is once again hosting a calendar fundraiser this year! All you have to do is submit your favorite pictures of Kinderhook Lake with the required forms before October 1, 2023. If your picture is selected as a winner, it will be featured as one of the months on the KLC’s 2024 Calendar and you will receive a free calendar. No purchase is necessary to enter or win! The forms are available below and submissions or questions can be sent to klphotocontest@gmail.com. Good luck.
Photo Contest Rules
Photo Contest Entry Form
Photo Contest Model Release Form
Photo Contest Property Release Form
On April 1st we will begin the process of refilling the lake to summer level in accordance with our DEC permit. The sluice gate will be lowered and the flashboards will be reinstalled atop the dam. As always, the time it takes to reach summer level is weather dependent.
Shoreline residents are asked to finish any shoreline projects and also clean their lakebeds by April 1st. Decaying leaves create nutrients for algae and invasive species to grow. Floating branches and twigs are a hazard to boating and often end up floating down to the dam and clogging the sluice gate.
We will begin lowering the lake to winter level on October 15th. Winter water level is approximately 52-inches below the average summer water level. Depending on rainfall, winter water level is usually attained by early- to mid-November. The drawdown occurs annually in accordance with our DEC permit in an attempt to protect shorelines and docks from ice damage during the winter. This also allows riparian owners time to repair and/or improve their shorelines and docks. Shoreline projects are best completed in the fall, as rising water levels in the spring can be unpredictable due to snowmelt and rain events.
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